Manchester United F.C. in international football

History

After winning the league title the previous season, Manchester United entered European competition for the first time in 1956–57. Chelsea, the 1954–55 Football League winners, had been prevented from entering the inaugural European Cup by Football League chairman Alan Hardaker, who feared European football would harm the English game. Manchester United manager Matt Busby, however, was determined to compete on the European stage, and with backing from Football Association chairman Stanley Rous, the club was allowed to enter the 1956–57 European Cup.

United's first European match was a preliminary round tie against Anderlecht at Parc Astrid in Brussels, which they won 2–0 in front of 35,000 spectators. The return leg, played at Maine Road because Old Trafford lacked floodlighting for evening games, ended in a 10–0 victory for Manchester United, a result that remains the club's record win in any competition. United then progressed through a long European Cup run, defeating Borussia Dortmund and Athletic Bilbao before reaching the semi-finals against Real Madrid.

The first leg at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium saw United lose 3–1 before a record away crowd of 135,000; the second leg at Old Trafford ended in a 2–2 draw, ending United's first European campaign as Real Madrid went on to win their second of five consecutive European Cups. The following season, United again won the league and returned to the European Cup. After a 9–2 aggregate victory over Shamrock Rovers in the preliminary round, they were drawn against Dukla Prague in the first round.

Following the second leg in Prague, fog over Manchester prevented the team from flying home as scheduled, forcing them to travel via ferry from the Hook of Holland to Harwich and then by train to Manchester. The long journey took a toll on the players, who could only manage a 1–1 away draw against Birmingham City two days later.